Early TNG Vol. 23 Chapter 1 Part 1

Full title: THE NEW GATE

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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Chapter 1 – Scars of Battle

After the battle in the mercantile nation of Kurikara, Shin and his companions were invited by Kluck, a member of the research society known as the “Black Faction,” to their headquarters on Parda Island.

As fellow blacksmiths, they spoke with the head of the Black Faction’s weapon department, Druk, along with other department heads, while given a tour of the facilities.

In the midst of what was half a conference of ideas, they heard about mineral excavation in the underground veins and decided to observe the work.

Yet, during their visit, the earth suddenly quaked, and from deep within the leyline emerged the colossal remains of a Divine Beast.

From those bones, power flowed into one of Shin’s items, reviving the Divine Beast Armaiz.

Armaiz warned that a great crisis loomed over Parda Island, and, hearing this, Shin and his companions resolved to stand alongside the Black Faction in battle.

Then came the onslaught: a vast horde of monsters, led by the event raid boss, Nuva.

Amid the conflict, Nuva’s true purpose was revealed.

Nuva possessed the power to gather wandering souls, purify them, and return them to the cycle of the world. But across the ages, its body had accumulated corruption, driving it into madness.

Though Nuva fought to fulfill its role, Shin joined forces with Yuzuha of the Element Tail, unleashing the power of the title “Liberator.”

Amplified by Yuzuha, his power erased the corruption binding the monsters, and in time, even Nuva—the source of it all—was granted peaceful release by Shin’s hand.

◆◆◆◆

Shin and the others remained for a while, watching as Nuva faded away.

They understood the battle was over, yet the sudden disappearance of what had been an overwhelming host of monsters felt almost unreal.

Still on guard, Shin thought, “There really isn’t anything left, is there?” as he scanned the surroundings.

“At this point, no more stragglers, no hidden events waiting to happen… right?”

He exhaled and dismounted from Yuzuha’s back.

“That would indeed be troublesome,” Armaiz remarked with a wry smile.

Hearing him, Schnee, Shibaid, and the others also loosened their shoulders in relief. Armaiz confirmed once more that he could no longer sense Nuva’s presence.

“Phew… I thought we were done for back there,” muttered Milt, a former player, her strength draining away.

The party’s mood-maker, Filma, lowered her weapon and replied with a sigh.

“True enough. This wasn’t just about defeating an enemy. The tension was of an entirely different kind.”

Though they said nothing aloud, Shin was certain Schnee and Shibaid felt the same.

“Still, has Yuzuha fully regained her power? I don’t recall ever hearing that she had completely recovered.”

Schnee spoke while gazing up at Yuzuha, who had shifted from a small fox into a massive, majestic form.

Yuzuha had revealed her strength before, but never on this scale. Even with Shin’s aid, the magnitude of her influence was incomparable to past displays.

“Roughly nine-tenths, I would say. The most vital part, however, remains sealed.”

Still standing upon the water’s surface, Yuzuha inclined her head toward Schnee as she answered.

Perhaps because this was close to her true form, the magic radiating from her imbued even simple words with a weight of oppressive pressure.

Shin and his companions, strong enough to withstand it, felt no harm, but an ordinary mid-tier Chosen One would surely have been driven to their knees.

“The most vital part?” Schnee asked.

“My strength has awakened, yet within me I still sense a shrouded core; what lies at the very heart of my power, and the knowledge bound to it.”

Shin immediately thought of the dominion held by Divine Beasts.

Once, the Element Tail had ruled vast territories and commanded countless kin.

But when Shin first discovered Yuzuha, there had been no dominion, no kin; only a diminutive shrine, far too small for an Element Tail. He wondered if the guardian fox statues, corrupted by miasma into Invade Monsters, might once have been her retainers.

From his knowledge of her true form and dominion, Shin knew the situation back then could not be explained by “weakening due to miasma” alone.

“So this isn’t your complete form? I thought you stayed small simply because it was convenient.”

Armaiz voiced his doubt. Yuzuha’s current form was already close to the Element Tail Shin knew, and Armaiz had not imagined she still held sealed power.

“Had I fully recovered, Nuva would not only have lost its head, but its entire body would have been obliterated,” Yuzuha replied.

The devastating strike that had blown Nuva’s head away had not even been her full strength. Her slight note of regret was likely because Nuva had regenerated so easily.

“If you’ve recovered this far, then it would be best to restore you completely. Do you know how to unseal the remaining part?”

At Shin’s question, Yuzuha shook her head.

“I do not. But seeing how stubbornly this seal endures, even now, I cannot help but suspect it was not caused by another but by my own hand.”

Now able to perceive her condition in detail, Yuzuha admitted to sensing something amiss.

It was like the certainty of having forgotten something crucial, yet being unable to recall what it was; a vexing state of mind.

“I owe you for lending me your strength, but breaking such a seal is beyond me. Forgive me,” Armaiz said, looking disheartened.

“It is of no concern,” Yuzuha replied lightly.

“Still… if you sealed it yourself, then shouldn’t you also be able to undo it?” Shin asked.

Yuzuha tilted her head slightly.

“No. It is as if the seal rejects my interference. Perhaps it conceals something I desperately wished never to reveal… or there was a reason it had to be sealed away. In this state, I cannot guess.”

“If it turns out to be dangerous, that’s a problem. But worrying over what we can’t solve is pointless. For now, there’s nothing we can do,” Shin said.

The possibility of self-sealing was, after all, only conjecture. There was no need to assume the worst.

After surveying the area one last time, Shin and the others decided to return to the island.

He summoned the magic-powered ship from his Item Box, where it had been stored in card form, and they boarded. Yuzuha shifted back into her small fox form and perched once again on Shin’s shoulder.

𑁋

On the way back to the island, they came across Parzan and the combat unit, still on high alert, and joined up with them.

“Man, I’m glad you’re all safe. When those things suddenly turned tail, I had no idea what was going on.”

According to Parzan, the monsters that had assaulted the island—such as Hevin and Corpus—suddenly broke off mid-battle and began retreating, turning their backs on the defense squad.

Some had even left themselves open despite being in a position to finish off squad members, granting certain soldiers a miraculous reprieve from death.

Since the place where Parzan’s unit had fought was distant from where Shin faced Nuva, they never imagined the monsters had shifted toward Shin’s group.

From the Hevin, there had been no indication of feints meant to lure attacks; it was simply an exposed retreat. Some soldiers nearly struck at them, tempted by the opening, but if that had provoked the monsters to march back toward the island, it would have been catastrophic. They were already outnumbered.

Parzan judged it best to let the enemy withdraw. Even if they came back later, the respite would allow the squad to recover, so he ordered his men to stand down.

“The one clashing with the enlarged Lord Armaiz… that was Nuva, wasn’t it? Honestly, I thought, what in the world could we possibly do against something like that?”

With the Hevin gone, they had been able to look around, and Parzan had seen the confrontation between Nuva and Armaiz.

Nuva’s colossal body, towering beyond imagination, and Armaiz tearing into it; it was like witnessing a kaiju battle. If that had moved in their direction, nothing could have stopped it. All he could do was pray for Armaiz’s victory.

“By the way, that huge fox-like monster that appeared at the end… what was it? It was comparable in size to Lord Armaiz, and then there was that radiant light. I doubt it just happened to be there by chance?”

“You’re right. It would be wrong to hide the truth in this situation, so I’ll be upfront. That was one of my partner monsters. I’m not much of a summoner myself, so she simply lends me her strength out of goodwill.”

Shin didn’t explicitly state it was Yuzuha. His phrasing left room to suggest he had more than one.

With Parzan’s ability, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have noticed that Yuzuha was not just an ordinary little fox. Even if Shin had introduced her as a partner monster, no one in their right mind would think his companions were merely cute mascots.

Still, connecting the fox cub at Shin’s side with the overwhelming being that had manifested was no simple feat. It was far more reasonable to assume that some greater kin had lent power than to believe they were one and the same.

After all, the disparity was immense, not just in form, but in the sheer magnitude of magic radiating from her. Anyone who had seen the golden brilliance she released might have recalled the Element Tail, yet neither lore nor player knowledge contained any record of the Element Tail being able to transform into a fox cub. Even Shin, who had fought it countless times, had never known such a fact.

“To think someone like that favors you, Sir Shin, it’s astonishing. Even from a distance, I could sense how dangerous she was. Thank the heavens she wasn’t an enemy.”

With an expression somewhere between relief and exasperation, Parzan let out a deep sigh. He seemed convinced by Shin’s claim that it was a partner monster.

“Coming from me it sounds strange, but you believe that?”

“If it were just some average Chosen One saying so, maybe not. But it’s you, Sir Shin.”

As he answered, Parzan turned to Schnee and the others with a questioning, “Right?”

“…”

“I can’t deny it.”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah.”

Schnee, Filma, Shibaid, and Milt—none contradicted him.

Of course, they knew the truth about Yuzuha, but from their tone and expressions, Shin suspected they would have reacted the same even without that knowledge.

“Strange. I’m being trusted, but somehow I can’t accept it.”

To be recognized as an ally of an existence that even Parzan—who belonged to one of the most knowledgeable organizations in the world—found shocking was not something easily believed. The fact they took it at face value left Shin feeling oddly unsettled.

“Don’t think too hard, it just means you’re that remarkable, Sir Shin! Besides, you did sever Nuva’s head in one stroke. No one who saw that could think you’re just an ordinary Chosen One.”

“Ah, so you saw that part.”

Shin wondered from what point Parzan had been watching, observing his expression carefully.

Unlike Druk and the other department heads, Parzan was a dyed-in-the-wool warrior. He must have felt firsthand the strength of Nuva and Armaiz during the battle.

While to most people Shin’s fighting might have seemed an almost surreal spectacle—power so overwhelming it escaped reality—for Parzan, it had surely been recognized as stark truth. And if so, then the sense of threat he felt from Shin would be far beyond that of anyone who didn’t live by combat.

“Even with skills, to cleave a body that massive with a sword alone… it’s something to aspire to as a warrior. Makes me wish we were stronger.”

There was no fear in Parzan’s expression as he looked at Shin, only the faint trace of regret at his own inadequacy.

“This time was… odd in many ways. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like victory. More like we were given the win… or perhaps it can’t even be called a win at all. It’s a gray area.”

There had likely been limits to Nuva’s regeneration and to the number of monsters it could command. With heavy losses, Shin’s party might have been able to finish them. Yet that was a meaningless hypothetical.

What Shin had considered a battle might, for Nuva, have simply been the most efficient method of being defeated.

Tiera, the Priestess of the World Tree, had also acutely felt the suffering carried by the monsters.

“Seems both sides have their frustrations. Let’s end this talk here. We should report back to the island and let everyone know the danger has passed. They must be anxious for news.”

Sensing Shin’s lingering dissatisfaction, Parzan clapped his hands lightly, steering the conversation away.

Shin had no desire to brood any longer. Picking up the cue, he agreed, and they set course back to the island.

Parzan joined them aboard the magic-powered vessel, saying it would be better if he was present for the report. With the defense unit trailing behind, they returned ahead of them.

As the island came into view, the coastline came into sight. What greeted Shin’s eyes was a scene of devastation: the magic cannons and defensive emplacements lined along the shore lay strewn about like broken toys.

“This is…”

Gripping the control stick, Shin frowned. No monsters should have breached this far.

“Most likely the effect of Nuva’s roar. It was not an attack like a breath or spell,” Shibaid offered.

Hearing this, Shin nodded in agreement.

The roar had been nothing more than sound, albeit unimaginably powerful sound. Defensive barriers triggered by skills or equipment would not respond to something that was not classified as an attack. As such, the roar had passed straight through.

“In some ways, it’s more troublesome than direct attacks. We’ll need countermeasures for things like that.”

Among spell skills, there were ones akin to stun grenades, depriving both sight and hearing. Until now, Shin had focused his efforts on raising the upper limits of skills embedded in equipment or preparing for deadlier threats. But this had shown him the need to consider “non-lethal yet crippling” effects as well.

“But that’s not today’s task.”

“First comes cleanup and restoration,” Schnee said from beside him.

Shin nodded, steering toward the harbor.

The devastation was extensive, but there was no human presence. Even using skills to search for hidden figures revealed no one. At least, there was no sign of people crushed under wreckage or knocked unconscious by the shockwave.

“Maybe everyone evacuated?”

Milt, also searching for survivors, posed the question. Filma, looking at a collapsed magic cannon, answered:

“Most likely. In this state, staying behind wouldn’t allow for a proper defense anyway.”

“There could be injured. Let’s return as fast as we can. Luckily, the port is un—”

“(Hey guys! Did you take down the boss?)”

Shin’s words were abruptly cut off by a voice message through 【Mind Chat】, sent by Sety, who had been acting separately.

“Sir Shin? Something wrong?”

“No, it’s just a message from an ally.”

He reassured Parzan, then turned his focus to the 【Mind Chat】.

Using all-channel mode, he reported their situation while asking about Sety’s group.

It seemed the Hevin, Corpus, and fused monsters they had faced had acted the same way as those near Shin.

“(They tried going straight for the shortest route. When they hit the barrier, they all dove into the sea. We weren’t sure of your situation, so we dealt with what we could reach.)”

At the time, Shin had been speaking with Tiera over all-channel mode, so Sety said they had held their position and observed.

The light of Shin’s Liberator power, amplified by Yuzuha, had stretched even to their side of the island, reaching Sety’s group. The monsters that dove into the sea or slammed against the barrier had all vanished just the same.

Shin hadn’t known if the light extended that far, but it was a relief to confirm that even monsters outside his perception range had been erased. The last thing he wanted was for remnants to remain.

“(It’s definitely over here. Nuva disappeared too, and no new spawns showed up.)”

“(Thank goodness. They won’t have to suffer anymore.)”

“(Yeah. This title has saved me time and again.)”

By defeating Origin, the final monster of the death game, Shin had gained three titles. Of them, the title “Liberator” differed in nature from the other two.

At first, Shin had assumed all three simply enhanced himself, but that wasn’t the case.

Compared to “Limit Breaker” and “Accomplished One,” which applied to himself, the “Liberator” title had far more utility in affecting others. Without it, there were lives he could never have saved.

Yet it still puzzled him why he had been granted all three. He understood growing stronger by absorbing Origin’s power, but in that case, two titles should have sufficed. In terms of defeating enemies, “Liberator” was hardly necessary.

“(Nullifying restraints is useful enough, but what’s truly lifesaving is its power to undo enslavement. That function didn’t exist in the game. Maybe that was the real purpose all along?)”

In the game era, there had been event-exclusive items to cancel enslaving effects, crafted from special drops. But here, it was doubtful if those materials even existed.

The “Collar of Subjugation” had appeared in the “Marionette of Lament” Halloween event. Shin had traveled far and wide, but he had never encountered seasonal monsters or items. Even Berett of the Golden Company and Schnee, who had crossed continents, had no knowledge of them. Without the developers’ intervention, they might not exist at all.

“(They’d be useful for research, sure. But even then, during the event the collar didn’t vanish outright, its victims simply stopped resisting until the final boss was defeated. Only then was it broken completely. Which means in this world, relying on the title’s power is the only way to truly free someone.)”

He could already imbue the title’s power into cards. Research would continue, but it would be a joint effort with Sety.

Wishing for swift results, Shin docked the magic-powered ship at the harbor. With that, the 【Mind Chat】 ended as well.

Though he lacked a captain’s license, the skills from the game translated seamlessly, allowing him to handle the vessel with ease. And, naturally, the ship itself had functions to assist in navigation, so he never let it get to his head.

Once everyone had disembarked, Shin transformed the vessel into card form and stored it in his Item Box before deciding their next step.

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